SINGAPORE - Bugis Cube has been put up for collective sale via a public tender exercise at a reserve price of $230 million, marketing agent Cushman & Wakefield said on Monday (Oct 7).

Located at 470 North Bridge Road, Bugis Cube is a six-storey commercial building with a basement floor car park.

It has 119 strata-titled retail shops, including food and beverage (F&B) outlets; beauty, hair and nail salons; and a family karaoke lounge.

The reserve price works out to a land rate of about $3,452 per square foot per plot ratio, based on the verified gross floor area of 66,614 square feet (sq ft) or 6,188.67 square metres (sq m) and a plot ratio of 5.735.

The 999-year leasehold site has a land area of 1,079.1 sq m or 11,615 sq ft. It is zoned "commercial" with a plot ratio of 4.2 and a maximum height of six storeys, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2014.

Owners holding not less than 80 per cent by share value and strata area have agreed to the collective sale, the agent said.

The tender exercise closes on Nov 14 at 3pm.

Annalyn Ooi, Cushman & Wakefield's associate director of capital markets, said: "As the sale is with vacant possession, the prospective buyer will have the opportunity to add value to the building through asset enhancement initiatives, such as by introducing coworking space concepts, speciality services and clinics.

"The buyer could also convert it into a boutique office building with its own naming rights."

The property is opposite Bugis Junction and adjacent to Liang Seah Street, a popular food and beverage street with steamboat restaurants, bars and dessert cafes.

Shaun Poh, Cushman & Wakefield's executive director of capital markets, said: "The recent sales of two commercial buildings, Bugis Junction Towers and Duo, have definitely added to the growing interest in the locality."

Last week, Keppel Reit agreed to sell its strata ownership of Bugis Junction Towers to Village Prop for $547.5 million, which is $388 million more than what it paid for the property in 2006. As for Duo, M+S Pte Ltd confirmed in July that it is selling the office and retail areas of Duo for $1.575 billion.

Bugis Cube is situated within the eclectic Bras Basah and Bugis neighbourhood which houses upcoming projects such as Guoco Midtown and Shaw Towers. Tenders for future residential developments at Tan Quee Lan Street and Middle Road were also recently awarded under the Government Land Sales Programme.

Bugis Cube is 250 metres from the City Hall MRT and Bugis MRT stations, and has easy access from other parts of Singapore via the East Coast Parkway (ECP) and Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE).

Formerly known as North Bridge Commercial Complex, the property was acquired in 2009 for $46 million by Griffin Real Estate Investment Holdings, which was set up by former Sakae Holdings director Andy Ong. Griffin then sold some of the units to individual buyers for $142 million in total, before the building was refurbished and renamed Bugis Cube.

On Monday morning, Perennial Real Estate said its joint venture is looking to start a claim for conspiracy against Ong and Griffin, in connection with the acquisition of another property.

The Straits Times

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